Demarara, May 16.
Since I last addressed you I have experienced a sad disappointment, in
having to make my congé to the general, on his return to the islands.
After all my expectations of being soon at St. Domingo, I am left behind
with instructions to continue in the direction of the medical department
of these colonies, until our detachment shall be relieved from the staff
of the Charibbee Islands.
Instead of my being permitted to proceed to head quarters, it is found
requisite that the branch of the hospital staff, serving here, should be
augmented. I have made out a return of the medical establishment, which
seems necessary for these colonies, and still hope that we may soon be
relieved, and allowed to proceed to our original destination.
In consequence of the sick list becoming numerous, we are compelled to
employ the medical officers of the regiments in the duties of the
general hospital.
I have great pleasure in remarking to you, that General Whyte has been
particularly attentive to the comfort of the sick, and the accommodation
of the hospital department. In every thing proposed for the benefit of
the suffering soldiers, we have always been happy enough to meet with
his full and ready acquiescence. It has only been necessary to point out
what was required, and every attention was immediately given to the
representation. You will believe that this has been highly gratifying to
me, and the more so, when I add that the measures proposed have not been
indifferently acceded to, but examined with a degree of attentive
consideration, not less honorable to the general than satisfactory to
myself.
It is also with much pleasure that I am enabled to add that Colonel
Hislop, who succeeds to the command, is a man of great humanity and
benevolence, and that we have every prospect of finding him desirous to
follow a good example in promoting the comfort and well-being of those
who are in sickness.
Before he left us, General Whyte gave orders that a large cotton logis
at La Bourgade should be fitted up as an hospital, and that a house near
to it should be appropriated to the use of the medical officers. Thus
have we the satisfaction of seeing the sick, and the whole of the
department, very conveniently accommodated; the patients being lodged in
a spacious and well-aired building; and their attendants having
commodious quarters immediately near to them, with proper offices, and
what is of consequence in this climate, a large cistern for fresh water
adjoining.
Here we are stationed, as a distinct department, quiet, and secluded,
free from the noise and hurry both of the town and the fort, and nearly
equidistant from the one and the other. The public road, from the fort
to the town, passes close by the gates; and within less than a hundred
yards from the road is the sea, or rather the opening of the river, so
that the sick are readily brought to us on either side, by land, or by
water. Perhaps another situation, equally commodious for the purposes of
the medical department, could not have been found in the colony.
I have already changed my quarters from Stabroek to our new home at La
Bourgade; but it does not seem probable that I shall long remain
stationary, for I have received instructions to proceed to the colony of
Berbische, to make arrangements for the hospitals there, as soon as I
shall have brought these at La Bourgade into a proper establishment.
I now suffer considerably from the “prickly heat,” but this would be
very supportable were it not for the still greater torment of
musquitoes, ants, centipedes, jack-spaniards[10], and the multitudes of
other insects biting, buzzing about our ears, crawling upon every thing
we touch, and as it were filling and vivifying the whole atmosphere
around us.
As I am to note all occurrences, I must not omit the following, although
it may seem to border upon the incredible. A few days ago I was applied
to by the wife of a colonist to request that I would _make some
complaint_ to her husband, against the slaves of the house, very
_humanely_ urging as a reason for imposing upon me so _grateful_ a task,
that she wished “_to get them a good flogging_!” I trust that neither
you, nor any of our fair friends, on the European shore of the Atlantic,
will condemn my want of gallantry in resisting the solicitation. It was
not even contended that any specific fault had been committed to justify
the punishment, but this was _to be invented_, and merely because some
idle whim, some fit of caprice, or ill humour had led the mistress, of
these poor slaves to wish them “_a good flogging_!”
You have probably read that in the woods of these colonies there are
numbers of men called “Bush-negroes.” These are mostly runaway slaves
who have revolted from their masters, and having collected together in
the forest, have there formed themselves into bodies, under certain
captains or leaders; and have established various habitations and
encampments in the thickest parts of what is termed “the Bush;” where
they now live in all the bad habits of savage nature; and are become
mere hordes of brigands or marauders.
They are negroes of the worst description, cruel, blood-thirsty and
revengeful: men whose crimes in European, and all well-ordered states,
would have been punished with death. Many have murdered white
inhabitants, massacred their masters, or revolted in combination,
plotting the destruction of the planters, in order to take the colony
into their own possession; but being frustrated in their designs, have
saved themselves from punishment, by flying into the hidden recesses of
the forest; from whence they issue only to ravage and plunder.
They had subjected themselves to a sort of regular discipline under
their captains and lieutenants, and the lower orders of them (for there
are distinctions even among runaway slaves) were compelled to toil in
the night, by going out of the woods, in parties, to steal plantains and
other provisions from the estates; but the labour to which they were
exposed, by this night duty, was so much more severe than that required
of them, in their common round, as slaves upon the plantations, that
some of them have been known to desert back from the woods, and return
to a state of slavery, after having fled from their masters to live in
idleness, as they had expected, with their brethren in “the Bush.”
I wish I could repeat to you, as eloquently as I heard it related, the
very interesting detail of an expedition sent into the woods against
these Bush-negroes, last year, under the command of Major M‘Grah, and
Captain Dougan. Many persons had been robbed, and had their property
otherwise injured by their predatory excursions; indeed the whole colony
was disturbed, and, from the increasing number of these sanguinary
hordes, was threatened with eventual destruction. It was resolved
therefore that a body of troops should be sent into the woods to search
for their places of resort, and to endeavour to subdue or exterminate
them. A party of the Dutch soldiers of the garrison was, accordingly,
equipped for this duty; and marched in due military order into the
forest.
But this was not the species of force calculated for such an enterprise:
from not having observed all the minute precautions required, in this
new and hazardous warfare, they were surprised and defeated by the
blacks; and very few of the soldiers escaped, most of them being killed,
and their scalps, or bodies, fixed against the trees, to serve as
examples of what others were to expect who should venture on a similar
service[11].
The government and the colonists having discovered, from fatal
experience, that the Bush-negroes were more formidable than had been
imagined; and finding that regular European troops were not the best
fitted for this kind of duty, raised a corps of blacks from among the
most faithful of the slaves; and also engaged in their interest a party
of Indians from the woods, who, happily for the planters, hold the
Bush-negroes in great abhorrence.
Well provided and equipped, this second expedition, commanded as above
mentioned, separated into two parties, and boldly advanced into the
forest to form a combined attack. Upon their march they passed the dead
bodies of the Dutch soldiers, tied to the trees at the sides of a narrow
path. Not deterred by this horrid scene, they proceeded onward, having
the sagacious Indians on their flanks; by whose acuteness and
penetration they discovered the various situations, where the different
companies of the brigands had taken up their residence, and, by
well-concerted attacks, defeated and routed them wheresoever they met
them. As an encouragement to the able and new-raised troops, a premium
was offered for every right hand of a Bush-negro that should be brought
in; and, when they returned from the woods, they appeared with seventy
black arms displayed upon the points of their bayonets, causing a very
singular and shocking spectacle to the beholders. Three hundred guilders
each had been fixed as the price, but it was found necessary to reduce
the premium, lest the slaves should kill their prisoners, or even
destroy each other to obtain it.
The exertion and fatigue required in such a movement cannot well be
conceived by those who are accustomed only to regular and systematic
warfare: nor is it probable that such a service could have been
supported in this climate by European soldiers. In addition to all the
difficulties of making their way through the unknown and almost
impenetrable woods, they knew not where to find the enemy’s posts; and
were, at every minute, liable to be fallen upon by surprise.
At first entering the Bush, the march was continued for a great
distance, nearly knee-deep in water: when further advanced, the troops
had to scramble through the thickets, or follow each other, by a
confined path, in Indian file; and, after the harassing march of the
day, to lie down at night, on the bare ground, under the trees, the
officers suspending their hammocks from bough to bough in the open air.
They had, moreover, to carry the whole of their provisions, arms,
ammunition, and every other necessary required for the success of the
enterprise, upon their backs.
But for the assistance given by the Indians, the brigands would,
probably, never have been subdued; perhaps not found! The expertness of
these men, in such a pursuit, is peculiar, and beyond all that could be
imagined, by those who live in crowded society. They not only hear
sounds in the woods, which are imperceptible to others, but judge, with
surprising accuracy, of the distance and direction from whence they
proceed. The position of a fallen leaf, or the bending of a bramble, too
slight to be noticed by an European eye, conveys to them certain
intelligence respecting the route taken by those, whom they pursue. From
constant practice and observation, their organs of sense become highly
improved, and they hear with an acuteness, and see with a precision
truly surprising to those who are unacquainted with their habits, and
their vigilance. With such guides, the corps moved in confidence, and
was conducted with safety. Seven encampments of the brigands were
discovered, and completely routed; some of which had existed during
fifteen years, concealed in the profoundest gloom of the forest.
The following was the mode usually observed in establishing these places
of residence and resort. Having fixed upon the spot most convenient for
their purpose, a circular piece of ground was cleared of its wood: in
the centre of this, they built huts, and formed the encampment, planting
around the buildings, oranges, bananas, plantains, yams, eddoes, and
other kinds of provisions; thus, in addition to the trees of the forest,
procuring themselves further concealment by the plantations which save
them food. The eddoes were found in great plenty, and seemed to
constitute their principal diet. Round the exterior of the circular spot
was cut a deep and wide ditch, which, being filled with water, and
stuck, at the sides and bottom, with sharp-pointed stakes, served as a
formidable barrier of defence. The path across this ditch was placed two
or three feet below the surface, and wholly concealed from the eye by
the water being always thick and muddy. Leaves were strewed, and
steppings, similar in their kind, made to the edges of the ditch, at
various parts, as a precaution, to deceive any who might approach,
respecting the real situation of the path. But the proper place of
crossing was found out by the sagacity of the Indians, who soon
discovered that to attempt to pass at any other part, was to be empaled
alive.
It was found that the brigands had eight of these encampments, or points
of rendezvous in the woods, one of which is supposed still to remain
undiscovered. After much fatigue in endeavouring to find it, the search
was relinquished, in the idea that some of the prisoners, either by
indulgence or torture, would be induced to make it known: but this
expectation has only led to disappointment. All the means used have
failed, and the prisoners, faithful to their cause, have suffered
torture and death without betraying their forest-associates.
The cruel severities inflicted upon these miserable blacks have been
such as you will scarcely believe could have been practised by any
well-ordered government: for, however strongly punishment was merited,
the refinement of torture, with which it was employed, ought never to
have been tolerated in any state professing to be civilized. Humanity
shudders at the bare recital of it.
Most of the ringleaders were taken, and brought to Stabroek, where they
were afterwards tried and executed, the majority of them suffering with
a degree of fortitude and heroism worthy a better cause. One in
particular, named Amsterdam, supported the extreme of punishment with a
firmness truly astonishing. He was subjected to the most shocking
torture, in the hope of compelling him to give information regarding the
remaining encampment—but in vain! He despised the severest suffering,
and nothing could induce him to betray his late companions, or to make
known their yet undiscovered retreat.
He was sentenced to be burnt alive, first having his flesh torn from his
limbs with red-hot pincers; and in order to render his punishment still
more terrible, he was compelled to sit by, and see thirteen others
broken upon the wheel and hung; and then, in being conducted to
execution, was made to walk over the thirteen dead bodies of his
comrades. Being fastened to an iron stake, surrounded with the consuming
pile, which was about to be illumined, he regarded the by-standers with
all the complacency of heroic fortitude, and exhibiting the most
unyielding courage, resolved that all the torture ingenuity or cruelty
might invent should not extort from him a single groan; or a syllable
that could in any way impeach his friends.
With the first pair of pincers, the executioner tore the flesh from one
of his arms. The sudden infliction of pain caused him to recede, in a
slight degree, from the irons; and he drew in his breath, as if to form
it into a sigh, but he instantly recovered himself—his countenance
indicated self-reproach, and he manifestly took shame for having
betrayed even the slightest sense of suffering; then, resuming more, if
possible, than his former composure, he patiently waited the approach of
the next irons, and, on these being brought towards him, he steadfastly
cast his eye upon them, inclined a little forward, and with an unshaken
firmness of countenance, deliberately met their burning grasp! From that
moment he showed himself capable of despising the severest pain. Not a
feature was afterwards disturbed, and he preserved a degree of
tranquillity implying absolute contempt of torture and of death.
Finally, when the destructive pile was set in flames, his body spun
round the iron stake, with the mouth open, until his head fell back, and
life was extinguished. I am told, by a gentleman who had the melancholy
task to attend the execution, that the most horrid stench continued for
many hours, to issue from the roasting body, and was extremely offensive
throughout the town, penetrating so strongly into the houses to leeward,
as to make many persons sick, and prevent them from taking food during
the remainder of the day.
Another of the chiefs, or captains, who was taken, is still in
confinement at the fort, under sentence of death. His execution has been
delayed in the hope of learning, from him, the situation of the yet
remaining encampment; but, hitherto, to no purpose; and from his present
conduct, it may be expected that he will die as firm and dauntless as
his comrade Amsterdam.